Poppet and seat assemblies are commonly used in fluid or gas handling devices such as valves to regulate the passage of a liquid or gas from an inlet section of the device to an outlet section of the device. The poppet typically is actuated within the valve body to move towards a seat, that is configured to provide a leak-tight sealing interface with an adjacent surface of the poppet, to provide a seated-poppet state, and move away from such seat to provide an unseated state. Depending on how the valve body is configured internally, the poppet seated or unseated state could affect fluid flow through the valve.
Poppets are typically actuated within the valve body by use of a spring which can be operated by mechanical means, electrical means, pneumatic means, hydraulic means, or a combination thereof. The poppet actuator is designed to move the poppet in one direction or the other to achieve the desired seated or unseated poppet/seat state. The amount of force that is required to seat and unseat the poppet, thus achieving and removing a desired leak-tight seal within the valve body, is a function of many factors including the particular geometry of the seat and the poppet interface surface.
Poppet and seats assemblies known in the art, used in valve application, typically comprise a seat that has a flat or substantially planar poppet interface surface that is disposed around a fluid flow passage in a valve body. The poppet used with such seat oftentimes includes a seat interface surface that is planar so that it covers over the seat to provide a desired leak-tight fit when placed in a seated position. Alternatively, poppet and seat assemblies known in the art may be configured so that one or the other of the poppet or the seat have an angularly-oriented interface surface to again provide a desired leak-tight interface seal. The particular seat or poppet interface geometries of such known embodiments, however, are not configured to optimize the actuation of the poppet and seat assemblies, i.e., they do not facilitate low force poppet actuation to perform the seating/unseating operation.
Additionally, conventional poppet and seat geometries are not configured to minimize the occurrence of fluid hold-up adjacent the seat when the poppet is in a seated or unseated position. For example, conventional seats can be designed having a surrounding geometry that can act to retain or hold a volume of liquid therein. The fluid hold up can occur when the poppet and seat are seated and/or unseated, depending on the particular seat geometry. Such fluid hold up is not desired because as it can contribute to the buildup of unwanted contaminates, e.g, algae and the like when the fluid is water, within the fluid being transported.
It is, therefore, desired that a poppet and seat be constructed to provide seated and unseated operation within a fluid handling device using minimal spring force, i.e., have high-efficient actuation. It is also desired that such a poppet and seat be constructed to prevent unwanted fluid hold up when either in the seated or unseated position. It is desired that such poppet and seat provides high-efficiency actuation and zero fluid hold up while providing leak tight service that is equal to or that exceeds that provided from conventional poppet and seat assemblies.